


across our skin

by thishasbeencary



Series: soulmate aus [5]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Canon Compliant, Falling In Love, Fluff, M/M, Romantic Soulmates, Slight Language Barrier, Soulmate AU, Soulmate-Identifying Words, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-12
Updated: 2017-05-12
Packaged: 2018-10-30 20:33:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10884417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thishasbeencary/pseuds/thishasbeencary
Summary: When you're born, you have the first words your soulmate says to you on your arm. When they say them to you, they turn red and you get another set of words that change your relationship with your soulmate. Viktor's first set is in Japanese and he doesn't understand, but the second is "Be my coach, Viktor".He has the second set for 10 years before he finally hears them.





	across our skin

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lilyemrys](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilyemrys/gifts).



> this sort of spiraled out of control from [this](https://yoyoplisetsky.tumblr.com/post/160569104692/ask-meme-32) ask prompt - lily asked for a 'things you said i wouldn't understand', and i half disregarded that prompt and wrote a soulmate au whoops. i wrote this like an entire week ago and then my laptop had to go in to get fixed, and i fell asleep before i could post it. so this was just. sitting up on my laptop. for the repair people to see.
> 
> i hope you like it anyway, lily <3 it's been a long wait xD
> 
> anyway! another soulmate au! as always, my blog is [yoyoplisetsky](https://yoyoplisetsky.tumblr.com/). come send me prompts, or talk to me, be my friend~!

Viktor was born with a series of symbols on his arm.

Well, so, Viktor wasn’t actually alone in that. Everyone was born with a series of symbols on their arms. They were their soulmate’s first words to them, and everyone had a soulmate, but it _was_ rare that they were in a language that he couldn’t speak.

Let’s rephrase.

Viktor was born with a word on his arm that he couldn’t translate, his soulmate’s first words to him. He’d asked his mother about it, but she didn’t know the language either, and he just lived with it, staring at the symbols, wondering what they sounded like.

He wondered about the world more than his soulmate for a long time. It wasn’t that he wasn’t curious about his soulmate, he’d wondered a lot of things about them. Was it a girl, was it a boy? Where were they from that had such a unique alphabet?

When he got into ice skating, he started to learn other languages, but he still never could recognize the symbols on his arm. He was disappointed to know they weren’t English, but he already knew that, since he’d been learning English with school.

He asked Yakov about the symbols a few years after he became his coach, despite the fact that most people didn’t really show off their soulmate’s words, but Yakov simply rolled his eyes at Viktor, holding his arm a little further from his face as he looked at the symbols, finally announcing that they looked like Japanese, maybe.

Viktor didn’t have time to learn Japanese. He barely had time to study English, and he’d already committed to teaching himself French, too, so he stared in frustration day after day at his arm, at the symbols that still made no sense.

There were Japanese competitors at some of his competitions, of course, but you couldn’t just shove your arm at someone’s face and demand that they translate it for you! So Viktor lived with the symbols, and for years wondered when he was going to find his soulmate, and what they were going to say.

Viktor was seventeen years old when he met his soulmate.

He’d come with Yakov to a competition for the Juniors because his own was a day before and they didn’t have time to return to Russia between them. He’d been talking with his coach and one of his coach’s rising Junior skaters for a while before he walked off to go have a seat in the stands to watch the rest of the skaters for the day.

As he passed out of the area Yakov was in, he ran directly into someone else, who after a moment he realized was the Japanese competitor. And who had ended up on the ground, much to Viktor’s horror.

The younger Japanese boy stumbled out something rushed, his cheeks bright red and hands reaching up to cover his face, even though he hadn’t gotten off of the floor yet.

“I’m sorry!” Viktor gasped out, reaching down to help him up, and he just stared at him with a wild expression in his eyes, which Viktor smiled at, because he had seen it before. Plenty of people were star struck around Viktor, especially when he was at competition, so this boy was no exception. Once he was back on his feet, clinging to Viktor’s hands, Viktor grinned widely. “I’m Viktor! Do you speak English?”

“I – yes.” The boy was still flushed red, tearing his hands from Viktor to straighten out his blue costume, tugging the sleeves down to cover his hands, watching his feet. “Katsuki Yuuri. It’s very nice to meet you, Viktor.” His words were clearly accented, but Viktor smiled nonetheless, especially when he looked up at him and met his shining brown eyes.

“Have you competed yet?” Viktor asked, his own fingers fiddling with his hair, watching the boy clearly shift his weight between his feet, arms crossed across his body.

“Not yet. I compete tomorrow. My coach wanted me to watch the events today.” He then looked up at Viktor, his bright eyes shining with more determination than before. Viktor had met a lot of fans in his past, but this was _different_. “It’s my first year. I’m going to skate like you one day.”

“Are you?” Viktor let the long ponytail fall over his shoulder as he leaned down to make eye contact with Yuuri, who stared back at him, even if still looking slightly nervous.

Yuuri nodded, hands clenched tightly into his costume. “So I would like that you watch me, too. So you know when I do.” He then looked embarrassed, his cheeks going red again, and buried his face in his hands. “I mean – I – Just… Thank you for helping me. I am sorry for running into you!”

And then he rushed off, and Viktor stood, left behind, a hand clutched against his heart. Yuuri didn’t skate until the second group, so Viktor stuck around in the stands that day, watching all of the other performances. The next day, Yuuri skated, and Viktor didn’t know if he had ever been more moved by a skate. Yuuri moved with _emotion_ , like he actually cared about what he was doing. He loved it, and he wasn’t going to stop it any time soon, if Viktor had anything to do with it.

Katsuki Yuuri. That was a name to watch for.

And a name that didn’t show up again until he was twenty-six years old and about to win the Grand Prix Final for the fifth consecutive year.

He figured out what those symbols sounded like that day. That stumbled, rushed word that Yuuri had whispered must have been whatever they said, because later that night, he woke up to a burning sensation on his arm, and watched in fascination as the words shifted, changed to a bright red color, something black starting to sink in below the familiar symbols.

Everyone was born with the first words that their soulmate said to them on their arm, and after that, they gained another phrase, one that started something new between them, that opened the up to the relationship that would hopefully form. The first set of words turned red when they were said, and the second set appeared that day, usually much more specific than the first.

The words on Viktor’s arm had been bright red since he was seventeen years old, and a black set in English sat below that, unspoken for ten full years. The red was still just a scramble of letters to him, which he couldn’t figure out how to translate because he couldn’t get the symbols perfectly copied when he tried to type the into Google Translate. What he did know was that they were Japanese, and that Katsuki Yuuri was his soulmate.

Katsuki Yuuri was also a _disaster_ at this first competition that they had together. Well, his free skate, at least. During his short program, Yuuri skated beautifully, like Viktor had seen him do again and again in other competitions, like he’d watched him do in that competition when they were children. Viktor had sat there, without a care in the world, and known that was his soulmate. That was the man who was going to beg him to be his coach, soon enough (he knew that, because that was what was featured on his arm. _Be my coach, Viktor!_ ). And Viktor would drop his career in a second if it meant actually being with Yuuri. He’d decided that the first day that these words appeared on his arm.

But then Yuuri collapsed during his free skate – not physically, but mentally. He skated the worst that Viktor had ever seen in his entire career, by far, and he came off the ice looking emotionally drained.

He didn’t see him again until they were preparing to leave the rink, and the second that he saw him, he smiled. “Yuuri!” He exclaimed the name, and Yuuri looked up for a second, but Yuri Plisetsky was watching him expectantly, so he blinked before he started to talk to Yuri instead, correcting his program, which the fifteen year old was not very receptive of. That really wasn’t surprising, honestly.

And then Yuuri was staring at him, and Viktor’s head snapped up with a wide smile, extending a hand toward him, reaching out for him. What he wished he could have been doing for the past ten years. This was the day that he finally got his soulmate on his side. And you know what that deserved? “Commemorative photo?” He happily took a step forward, and Yuuri’s face contorted to disbelief before shock before _upset_ , and he _left._

And Viktor was _alone_. He called his name after him, but only Celestino stepped forward, apologizing for Yuuri’s behavior, claiming he’d had a hard day, which Viktor knew, but he was his _soulmate_. His soulmate had just walked away from him after seeing him for the first time in ten years, and he didn’t _understand_.

He said none of this aloud, though, and simply went back to the hotel with Yakov and Yuri. A few days later, he was dressed for the banquet, pulling awkwardly at his tie while he talked to a sponsor. This was the year, he’d decided. After Worlds, he was going to quit skating. After that, he’d somehow end up as Yuuri’s coach, it seemed, but Yuuri had to ask. Viktor just had to… get out of the world that he’d gotten so involved with.

Just like any other banquet, Viktor stood around with the sponsors and other skaters, laughing along with their jokes and trying to not be bored to death. And then Yuuri Katsuki walked in, and Viktor looked at him, but he was ignored, Yuuri just slinking along his coach’s side. Viktor, who had had a glass (or two… or maybe 3) of champagne, leaned his head against Christophe Giacometti’s shoulder. “That’s my soulmate, you know,” He whispered, gesturing vaguely to Yuuri.

“He is?” Viktor nodded in response, simply watching him and Chris, who had his soulmate, and was happily with him, simply laughed. “You’re lovesick, Vitya. When’d you meet him? Get some good first words?”

“Ten years ago. Didn’t understand them. Still don’t. Japanese. I knocked him over.” Viktor traced the words under his shirt, having already memorized their pattern. He’d recognize them anywhere, but unfortunately, he didn’t see much written colloquial Japanese. Not that it _really_ mattered any more, but it was still something that he wished he knew. What had Yuuri said so long ago?

“Ten years? And you’re just now seeing him again?” Chris raised his eyebrows.

“I was in the middle of my career, Chris! I couldn’t just drop it and run after some boy from Japan. And he was, he was tiny, just starting that year. I was _seventeen_ , so I was a child too. I figured we’d… meet each other again before now,” Viktor sighed, having lost sight of Yuuri and so actually turning his attention to his friend.

“And now?” Chris was genuinely curious, and Viktor was glad to have such a close friend, someone who would actually listen to his problems. Maybe it was because Chris already had heard his other words, he knew that his boyfriend was his soulmate.

“Now, I’m going to find him in a few minutes, and talk to him, and figure out why he ran away from me this afternoon, and then become his coach.” He made sure that there were no sponsors (or Yakov) within hearing distance before he said the last part.

Chris spat out the small sip of champagne he had just taken, choking a little as he tried to process what Viktor had just said. “Be his coach?”

“That’s what the words say, Chris! He’s going to ask me. And I’ve been thinking, and you know I haven’t wanted to skate the past few seasons, not since I landed that damn quad flip. ‘What will Viktor Nikiforov do next’? A whole lot of the same stuff as the last five years! It’s time someone else takes over.” Viktor crossed his arms over his chest, shrinking into himself. This hadn’t been an easy decision to make, to make sure that he actually wanted to quit skating. But he needed something new, and if it meant spending time with his soulmate, he was ready.

“Are you sure? Vitya, you’re not going to be able to come back to skating, probably, if you quit after this season,” Chris warned, setting a hand onto Viktor’s shoulder, and Viktor sighed.

“I know,” He spoke seriously, “I want that. I want to… move on. Spend more time with Makkachin, fall in love.”

“With Yuuri.” Chris was teasing now, and Viktor smiled, glad that his friend was supportive.

“Preferably with Yuuri,” Viktor agreed with a laugh before silence fell over the banquet and he blinked in confusion, looking around until –

“Holy shit, when did Yuuri get that drunk?” Chris spoke, leaning into his side as Viktor… watched his soulmate challenge Yuri Plisetsky to a dance off?

He stood up, abandoning his chair and his glass, grabbing his phone from where Yakov had made him put it when they were talking to sponsors, and laughing as he watched.

It ended with Chris and Yuuri stripping, and Viktor’s cheeks were flushed red with happiness and excitement. At least, he thought that was when it was going to end, but then, as Yuuri was getting dressed, he walked right over to Viktor, slinging his arms around his neck, and babbling in Japan before one phrase came through very clearly in English.

“Be my coach, Viktor!”

Yuuri disappeared the next day, and Viktor went back to Russia, because he didn’t know where to find his soulmate. He couldn’t wait another ten years, because he wouldn’t be able to couch Yuuri. But it was months, all the way through Nationals and Worlds, before he heard anything from him.

He stayed up nightly, tracing the words on his arm and wondering what Yuuri’s might say. Had he said them yet?

After Worlds, he had a frantic text from Chris, who’d sent him a text that just read, _LOOK WHAT YOUR FUCKING SOULMATE DID VITYA._ And had the link to a YouTube video, which Viktor clicked on in confusion.

Halfway through, he paused the video and bought a ticket to Japan. And made sure that Makkachin could come with him.

Yuuri hid his arm from him, and it was frustrating as hell. Even in the Hot Springs, Yuuri would turn his arm away from Viktor, or purposely keep it pressed against his side, so Viktor couldn’t see whatever was there.

Maybe he was the unlucky kind, who had a soulmate, but whose soulmate didn’t have words. It was rare, but it made relationships so much harder to go through.

But, no, one day when Yuuri was skating, his sleeve rolled up just enough for Viktor to see a flash of black and red on his arm, and he smiled to himself. Now he just had to get Yuuri to fall in love with him.

Which was harder than he expected. Again and again, he was rejected, and Viktor bit his lip in frustration. He was coaching Yuuri for a reason, and he could handle this. He could do this.

He couldn’t do this.

Yuuri was Eros incarnate during Hot Springs on Ice, and barely spared a glance at Viktor after, claiming exhaustion and going to hide in his room. Which Viktor had been explicitly banned from.

Even though Yuuri was welcome to jump into his bed and talk to him in the middle of the night.

It wasn’t until just before his qualifier in China that things started to change. On the plane, Yuuri let him lean against him, and they talked as friends when he wasn’t acting as coach, and this was so close to what Viktor had always wished for.

And then he had the bright idea of breaking Yuuri’s heart.

He just hoped those weren’t the words on his arm. Hoped and begged and prayed that they wouldn’t have to be reminded of Yuuri’s tears. He never wanted to see Yuuri cry again.

…

And then he kissed him.

…

On the ice.

And Yuuri looked up at him with such a bright look in his eyes, and dragged him back to the hotel that night to kiss him again and again.

That night, Viktor leaned forward during one of their kisses and whispered, “You’re my soulmate.”

And Yuuri had stopped, staring at him for a moment before a wide smile spread over his face, and he kissed him again. “I know. You’re mine too.”

Not that that was really a question, you were your soulmate’s soulmate, whether you had words or not. But Yuuri’s agreement meant that he was sure, so he did have words, and again Viktor wondered what that second set might be.

He also couldn’t remember the first, from when they were so young.

In Russia, they stayed close, and Yuuri skated unbelievably, again. And Viktor fell more in love, which was a surprise to absolutely no one.

He wondered, as he left Russia, if soulmates might feel worse when they’re further apart from each other. He felt a physical pain in his chest, and Yuuri skated worse than he had in weeks.

And, then, they were reunited and, “That sounds like a marriage proposal.”

And it was unspoken that was sort of what it was. Yuuri was closer to him after that. Let him kiss him more often, casually hold his hand or sling an arm over his shoulder. They slept in the same bed without question.

But still he hid his arm from Viktor.

Barcelona was a whole other world.

In Barcelona, Yuuri demanded that Viktor take him on a date, and held onto him the whole day. He spoke softly and freely, and Viktor learned more about Yuuri in a single day of sightseeing than he had in these months of coaching him.

And then Yuuri started talking about his birthday, and Viktor raised his eyebrow, letting Yuuri think.

The last thing he expected him to buy was wedding rings.

He wondered if any of the words he said that night were on Yuuri’s arm – any of them would make sense. And work well.

But Yuuri still didn’t tell him that night, and instead went into his skate, clearly full of anxiety. He skated well. And then things fell apart.

“After the final, let’s end this.”

And they _argued_ , and instead of fixing it, Viktor told him they had to put it off. And Yuuri didn’t fight him on that, only buried himself in the covers, making it clear that Viktor wasn’t allowed to touch him. Half an hour later, though, he rolled over into Viktor’s arms, pressing himself against his body, but muttering, “I’m still mad at you.”

It was late in the night, when Yuuri probably thought he was asleep, that Yuuri leaned in and tearfully whispered, “I just meant I wanted to tell you. Please never leave me.” He buried himself in Viktor’s arms, and Viktor had to keep himself from stiffening, because he was asleep. He was fake asleep. “I can’t live without you now.”

Yuuri fell asleep after that, and slept as soundly as Viktor expected (not very soundly at all). Viktor couldn’t talk because he couldn’t sleep at all, wishing he’d thought before speaking. Like he ever thought before speaking.

Yuuri didn’t win gold, and Viktor smiled nonetheless, because he wanted to keep skating, he wanted another season. Viktor wrapped his arms tight around him and held him close, because of course he wouldn’t make him do anything else.

During the pair skate, they… announced they were soulmates. Maybe it was the kissing on the ice when they were done, or maybe it was Viktor slinging his arm around Yuuri’s shoulders during one of the press conferences and happily announcing, “We’re soulmates!”

The press found out somehow.

But Viktor still didn’t know what was on Yuuri’s arm.

It was after the banquet that they finally talked about it.

Yuuri was tired after their skate and the day with sponsors, so he curled up in bed, but immediately reached out for Viktor as well, because they were completely welcome in each other’s lives now, which was beyond amazing to Viktor. Everything that he could have dreamed of was being wrapped up like this in Yuuri’s arms.

Only, Yuuri let go after a few moments, so he was laying on his side, facing Viktor. He had a serious look in his eyes before he pulled off his shirt, laying back down and reaching toward him again, but not to touch him. Yuuri turned his arm around for Viktor to see, at last, bright red letters prominent on his arm. First on Yuuri’s arm, _“I’m sorry.”_ And Viktor looked at it, his eyes lighting up in happiness. And then he read the next phrase, and he blinked. _“Commemorative photo?”_

“What… what did that start for us?” He traced his fingers over the letters, and Yuuri sighed.

“I… I sort of thought you didn’t know me then. Thought you’d forgotten about when I… embarrassingly begged you to follow my career when I was thirteen. And between that and my dog dying, I just… Decided that I should just go get drunk at the banquet. Which I guess led me to you.” His cheeks were flushed red, shrugging. “I… wish it was something else.”

“I did know you! I remembered you from the first time, how could I have forgotten?” Viktor grinned, kissing Yuuri lightly on the lips, laughing after he had. “You were adorable! I thought you were much younger than you were, but still so talented! If you’d had a proper coach earlier, you’d have beaten me years ago.” He then added, “And, my words were in Japanese! The other ones appeared the next day, so it _had_ to be you. How could I forget the day I met my soulmate?”

“Your words are Japanese?” Yuuri curiously looked toward him.

“The first set!” Viktor turned his own arm toward Yuuri, showing off the bright red symbols that he’d desperately tried to translate so many times. “I could never translate it!”

Yuuri looked at the words and started laughing, which Viktor hoped was a good sign. The way his cheeks lit up red, though, that was something that he remembered from the first time that they met, so it had to be something good. “Yuuri! What does it say?”

“It says ‘I’m sorry’. From when I ran into you when I was a Junior, and panicked too much to even consider speaking in English,” Yuuri said, running his fingers against the Japanese symbols in a state of disbelief, and Viktor grinned widely at him. And then a horrified look appeared on Yuuri’s face, and he started to laugh, slightly hysterically. “Both of our first words to each other were ‘I’m sorry’.” Yuuri covered his face, and Viktor laughed as well.

“Well, I did knock you to the ground! I needed to apologize,” Viktor spoke seriously, grinning at him, and Yuuri rolled his eyes.

“I ran into you because I wasn’t paying attention and got distracted, Viktor.” And then he paused, serious for a long moment before he finally spoke again. “I… what are your other words?” His cheeks were flushed, which meant that he had probably properly guessed what they were.

 _“Be my coach, Viktor!”_ Viktor showed the words proudly, grinning at him.

“Not surprising, is it? That’s the night I realized what I wanted to do with the rest of my life!” Viktor beamed happily, looking at Yuuri, who was still bright red, but smiling a little.

“Coach me?” He asked softly, as if doubting that that was a good career path, and Viktor narrowed his eyes at him, shaking his head adamantly.

“I love coaching you, but it’s impossible for me to do that the rest of my life. What I want to do with the rest of my life is love you.” Viktor said, completely knowing how cheesy it sounded, and Yuuri just stared at him before grabbing onto the front of his shirt, dragging him in for a long kiss, which left them both flushed and out of breath, and Viktor stared at him.

“I changed my mind,” Yuuri finally gasped out, kissing Viktor again. “We’re not getting married when I win gold, because I don’t know when that’s going to happen and I don’t want to wait.”

“Yuuri?” Viktor stared at him, and Yuuri kissed him again, rolling on top of him and then reaching out to press their palms together, staring at their matching rings. He was panting softly as he looked down at Viktor, his eyes dark with purpose. He was sure about whatever he wanted to say.

“Marry me as soon as we get back to Hasetsu, Viktor. Or Russia, i don’t care. Marry me here. Marry me now. Show the world you’re _mine_.” Yuuri demanded, looking Viktor in the eyes, and Viktor couldn’t dare to refuse. Finally, saying something that Viktor understood.

They say in rare cases, some groups of soulmates get three sets of words. The first set is the first time that they meet, something that turns bright red once they’re said. The second is a turning point in their lives, something that finally drives the two of them together, and it appears after the first turns red, and stays black forever.

The third is a moment that neither ever wanted to forget, seared into their skin in a dark purply color, like an eternal bruise. Not every pair of soulmates got these words, because for most of them, their second set and their third would be the same.

Viktor’s burned dark on his skin, a row of three sets of words: Japanese symbols that said _“I’m sorry”,_ _“Be my coach, Viktor!”,_ and _“Show the world you’re mine”._ The third had Yuuri most embarrassed, but how much could he really complain when a few months later, Yuuri realized he had a third set of words as well. And they were even more embarrassing than the ones on Viktor’s arm.

_“Yakov, can my theme for this season be ‘Yuuri’?”_

**Author's Note:**

> what's that, cary, did you start this by giving yuuri a successful junior's career? why yes. yes i did. fight me and my talented baby.
> 
> as always i adore all of your comments/kudos/bookmarks, they super make my day. thank you <3


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